Our Russian Evening

No photos this week - I was just too busy. Last night we had lots of wonderful friends and family over for our "Russian Evening". Generally it went very well, but I have to confess something that let me hang my head in shame...! But let me start at the beginning!

I had planned to welcome everyone with bread and salt as we had been welcomed on board our ship. Unfortunately my fridge was very full, so the (bought) bread dough was left outside and by the time I wanted to bake it, it had fallen flat! So no Russian bread welcome! (I baked the bread dough this morning and actually it was fine! Too bad I hadn't done it yesterday! I could have treated my guests to wonderful warm bread and let them experience "Russian" hospitality!)

I never got round to making the herring and salmon snacks I had envisioned, so the guests had to make their own snacks while I was still running around. I hope everyone got something. I'm not the best hostess - if you don't help yourself, you'll go without something to drink.We are fortunate to have two houses on the farm: my mother's house and our house. We arranged the furniture in the top house in rows for the slide show. Thelwyn had organised a computer projector for us - thank you Thelwyn! It was fun to relive our Russian tour and to see our new friends Gert and Maria again. Thanks for the video and the DVD and the picture and...and!

After the show, we had Russian food, or at least my version of it. I had made

• Chicken - my own recipe. I think it was something like what we got served on the ship.
• Vareniki (filled dumplings) I probably will never make it again. Not bad, but too much work and I do not think really worth the effort. But more than half of the dish got eaten up, so either our guests were just polite, or they actually liked it. (When I had made a trial batch, Hendrik did not think I should include it in the menu, but since it forms a part of Russian New Year celebrations, I included it anyway!)
• Bitochki: meatballs with mushroom and sourcream sauce. I seldom use sour cream - too expensive and too many calories - so the sauce was too thick and I had to thin it down with plain yoghurt. I'm not wild about meatballs, but these were quite good. I'll just make the sauce with plain yoghurt next time.
  
• Kidney bean salad with rye bread, grated apple, olives, cheese and mayonnaise. This is one of my favourite Russian recipes, but there was a lot left over. On the other hand, I did not really see any left on the plates... but on the other I did not scrape the plates either, so I do not really know whether the guests liked it, but this is a recipe I'll make again - if only for myself!
  
• Carrot salad. I did not make it with sour cream as my Russian recipe suggested, but I did put in the chopped dried apricots and it was popular.
• Beetroot: I cheated and used box beetroot, but I drained the beats and added walnuts, raisins and mayonnaise- as the recipe stated. This dish was very popular and I definitely will make it again.
  
• Cucumber salad with hardboiled egg and sour cream dip. This salad was far more popular than Thelwyn (she made it for me) had thought it would be and we should have made more.
• Russian picnic potatoes: a stirfried mixture of parboiled potato strips (chips) and mushroom and onion. Since our Russian tour I have made it a few times and will continue to make it. If you come to visit, you are likely to get it! I can recommend it.
• Poppyseed rolls, strawberries and icecream for dessert. This is another "recipe" I can really recommend. We had something like this on the ship and this is my version: you unroll a room temperature roll of flaky pastry. (NB. it takes a long time to defrost, so take it out of the freezer, the day before.) Spread it with a good quality chocolate spread. (The cheapest variety turned out to be like chocolate sauce and did not work too well when I had tried it before.) Sprinkle poppy seeds on top of the chocolate and roll up the pastry again. Pinch the edge to make sure it doesn't unroll while baking. Cut in slices and bake for about 20 minutes - but watch it. I made this for earlier this week when my sister Anne 'crashed' with us for the night and it burned!! What a pity. Anne thought it might have been the oven pan, so for the party I made sure I used a ceramic dish.
  

Of course we had to end the meal with КОФЕ and ЧАЙ. We had an urn, mugs, various coffees, tea, sugar and milk set out and invited everyone to help themselves... I was busy chatting, and covering left overs - I couldn't let do over zealous guests do that on their own - so I never made myself coffee. Anyway I only drink hot water, so I doubt that I would have noticed that something was amiss. When guests started to say good-bye, I said, "But you haven't had coffee yet." And they all assured me that they had already had coffee thank you....! No one told us that actually the coffee was undrinkable! It was only after everyone had left, that we realised that the milk was sour... not just sour, nearly thick! (Whoever put that bottle in the fridge?) Jan had put the fresh milk in the fridge in the other house, because ours was too full....

So to anyone reading this: thank you for coming. It was a memorable way for us to end our tour of all tours. But next time, please tell me if something is amiss! (Sour milk is not likely to happen again: I'll make sure I'll taste it from now on!!)

Без перевода. (Goodbye)

June news of Friends and Family

Earlier this month my dear friend Alet and her son Roby popped over for tea. It was sooo good to see them - must do it more often.

On Thelwyn's birthday we all popped over for tea....

Frans asked whether we would like some supper and in no time he prepared this FEAST! So instead of coffee we first had a scrumptious meal and then delicious treats. Dit wil gedoen wees Frans om so onverwags vir die hele familie 'n fees voor te berei .... in 10 minute ...... nogal op 'n Dinsdagaand na 'n besige dag!

Gert en Dorette is lekker honger en die kos lyk en ruik heerlik.

In the meantime Franco and Martelize enjoyed playing with Thelwyn's new egg beater and Martelize's 100 balls on the carpet - clerverly cordoned off with poofs. The poofs make a sturdy fence to keep little ones in and big dogs out and at the same time the provide the children with a safe place to pull themselves up and to stand and play.

Elrika's Baby Shower

A week ago Thelwyn, Martelize (of course) and I went to the baby shower of Elrika. She has been Thelwyn's friend since they were two years old. Her mother, Elsa, two other friends and I had an "exhange" play group back then. Each of us would get a turn to look after all the children once a fortnight. That meant 3 child free mornings every in return for the "service"! Real life savers for us moms: it meant (inter alia) one could go shopping without towing the toddlers and babies along! I would recommend such an arrangement for any stay at home moms! Elsa, Brenda and I have remained very good friends ever since.

Martelize was as good as gold in the car to Midrand and at the party - that after having had a crying spell all morning. (If only babies could say what was wrong!) Here she is unpacking Thelwyn's bag while we were waiting for Elrika to come down. She did not know about the baby shower: here in South Africa we like to keep it a surprise. Her friend had invited her for a massage and while they were busy upstairs, her mother and other friends quickly set the tables with really delicious goodies. Elrika never suspected a thing - she did not know about the cars that were being parked on the sidewalk while she was being pampered. I thought having the guest of honour in the house beforehand was a very clever idea, because the parked cars can be a dead give away.

Another good idea was to have the tea party before the opening of the presents. That gave Elrika chance to say hello to everyone, and anyone who was in a hurry could leave whenever they wanted. Here is Elrika (the pregnant one obviously) talking to friends. Elrika is expecting baby daughter Janelle in 5 weeks time. We were over the moon when we heard that she was pregnant. They had struggled to fall pregnant for years.

Everyone settling down for the opening of the presents. My friend Elsa in the foreground.

Thelwyn and another very good Kempton Park friend of mine, Rouxlene. Rouxlene was also part of the exchange playgroup at some stage. She was an excellent math's teacher and a real inspiration to my children. She and Elsa now work for her engineer brother. Elsa was also a teacher before. (Rouxlene, by the way, if you are reading this, we hope to be reading your blog soon. Just go to www.blogger.com and create a blog - it's that simple! Even if you don't start a blog, just register, so that you can at least comment and let me know when you have read my blog.)

Another very dear Kempton Park friend, Irmgardt. We come a long way too. Like some of Elsa's and Rouxlene's children, her children were in my "official" (i.e. not exchange) playgroup and she referred many friends to me. I had a playgroup in Van Riebeeckpark for 9 wonderful years - until God sent me to Con Amore, a school for severely mentally handicapped children - but that is another story. As usual, I digress....
Irmgardt and Annemarie visited me just the other day, but we had so much visiting to do, that I completely forgot to take photos. (Sob!)

Another very good idea: Elsa's cake she had made out of nappies.

(Jy is baie kreatief Elsa - dit was 'n heerlike partytjie, so baie dankie vir die uitnodiging. Ons sien saam met julle met groot verwagting uit na die koms van Janelle!)

Another blessed, filled weekend.

Last Friday was our last day of school. Tammy's family came out to the farm for a last day celebration. Here they are rubbing on sunschreen before going up the koppie.


Tammy's Ouma and Mommy Alta.

Tammy on top of the koppie - I'm so proud of her - my one and only homeschool learner. Read more about her and this outing here.


Hendrik really did us proud by leading everyone around the paddock on Klasie. He always does that so willingly and graciously - ek sal jou hou Hendrik!

What are Thelwyn and Martelize doing on the koppie and why is Martelize looking so disgruntled? This is a story for a post on its own and has something to do with a post a while ago which said "Watch this space." Those white planks took up most of our time on Saturday, but more about that later.... (Does the material of Martelize's dress seem a little outdated? It was Thelwyn's dress lovingly made by me... )

On Sunday Hendrik brought Marietjie to meet us.

We had a great time and we hope she did too.

Stable time was again Martelize and Ouma time. No ponytail today -te woelig Ouma!

Have horse will ride... or love me, love my horse... something like that. Marietjie getting her first riding lesson.

Another Wedding of a Twin

Hendrik grew up with two sets of twins: His cousins Hendrik and Martin of Kwazulu-Natal and his Kempton Park friends Pieter and Servaas. Hendrik got married in January (look here) and now a month later Servaas got married.

As was to be expected, Servaas's twin, Pieter, was his best man. Pieter works in London at the moment, but flew back for two weeks for the wedding. (Hendrik does not have internet and only checks out his e-mail over weekends when he is at home and so missed the invite to Servaas's bachelor party - BIG FRUSTRATION for him!)

The wedding was held at Glenburn Lodge - a very beautiful place. But there was a problem: At the turnoff, the lodge had a name flag instead of a solid sign. When we drove past, the flag was draped around the pole and so we missed the entrance....

When we finally arrived the bride and her bridemaids were ready already, but they were waiting for latecomers - we were not the only ones who had missed the sign! (Hint to future brides: put distances on the map you include with your invitation and preferably a discription of the road as well. And put a big solid sign with your names at the entrance...)

Anyway, sorry Liesl - we should have left 15 minutes earlier! There is really no excuse for coming late to a wedding.

We were "darem" well and truly seated when the radiant bride entered. You looked so beautiful Liesl.

The front of the chapel was bathed in late afternoon light - very, very beautiful and romantic.

Message:

Phillipians 4: 4: Rejoice in the Lord always...

If you want to be happy, you have to ensure that your partner is happy.

Take all your troubles to God and be grateful.
The peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts..... The peace will be with you...(I.e. you get peace and the same peace stays with you.)
Note to self: I must take my church notebook along also when I go to weddings!

(My concentration is not the best and I remember better when I take notes of sermons, so I always take my church notebook with me when I go to church.)

After the church service, waiting to throw fresh rose petals on the couple: Adriaan and his wife Nida.

Adriaan is our Kempton Park neighbours' son. Like Pieter and Servaas we have known him from the day he was born. He is an I.T. boffin and qualified teacher. Nida is a teacher too, but at the moment she is working for a Korean concern.

Adriaan's parents, Christo and Brenda were not there: Brenda is getting chemo treatment for cancer and of course not feeling too great at times. (More about Brenda here and here.)

My two handsome men.

My good friend Elsa - beautiful mother of the groom. (Adriaan in the background).

Yours truly

Aunts of the groom: Gerda, Elisabeth (yes it the Elisabeth 0f singing couple Francois and Elisabeth) and Servaas's sister Elrika with her husband Janco. They are expecting their first child in June and her name will be Janelle. (After nearly 7 years of marriage, we were all over the moon when Elrika finally became pregnant.)

Guests still chatting outside the church, before moving on to the reception. Pieter (Servaas's twin) in foreground.

View from the deck where drinks and platters were set out. On the right Nida and Jan (sitting) and Hendrik and Adriaan (standing).

Janita with black and white (the other sister) and Elrika.

The reception hall - I got a sneek preview when I went to the bathroom. A pity I did not take more photos with the fairy lights and the beautiful table arrangements, but once we were in the hall, we visited so much that the camera was all but forgotten.

Each guest got a cute little box with nuts and chocolates.... and the food was heavenly, especially the starter and the seafood dish and the chocolate mousse.... my bathroom scale groaned this morning! (And I did take such small portions...!)

The scrumptious wedding cake.

A special pose for us: Servaas and Liesl.

And lastly Jan and I had a ball on the dance floor. Can you believe it! We had never enjoyed dancing before, because we couldn't really dance! However we had practised on our own and we figured out our own way. (Elsa het gese "Julle kan nog!" Watwou "Kan nog"... Ons kan nou vir die eerste keer.)

(Note to all young people: learn to dance in your youth, otherwise you miss sooo much.)

So what did we do on Valentine's day?

Saturday morning we had a church group from Kameeldrif who came for a hike from us to Goodland where they had a braai and a swim in the dam.

We started with a walk up the "koppie".

My good friend Alet. We used to do choral dancing together. Now we just visit and sometimes go for a hike.

Crossing the "spruit". Fortunately it was not too full to cross. (A few days ago, it would have been impossible ! After all the good rains, the stream had been in flood as the flattened grass testified.)

Pretty footpath to Goodland.

After we have safely guided the church group to Goodland we returned. Frans and Thelwyn had a possible horse buyer and while they showed off their Arabians, we looked after Martelize.

It's great fun to stand on Oupa's tummy, especially when he makes "hiccups"!

"Look my goofy face!" ...Martelize's newest, but not very flattering, expression!

While I got going with the Valentine chicken pie (Wenresepte 2 - baie lekker) in the kitchen, Martelize had a great time tearing up newspaper ads. Besides crumpling it (and chewing it), she can tear it. It had to be ads - ordinary newspaper makes too much of a mess.

Martelize is getting closer to crawling by the day. She gets in crawling position and then rocks to and fro for a long time.

Sometimes she even lifts her bum high in the air, but then ploughs down face first if she tries to move. She moves forward a little, but still gets irritated because she cannot move fast enough. If put on her back, she immediately turns on her tummy again and tries to crawl - moaning all the time. Like a novice trumpet player who is determined to master the skill, but first has to make a lot of noise...

Franco: "Look, I can pull myself up against Oupa Jan's old army chest - after first pulling off Ouma's linen cloth!"

The L's came in the afternoon to celebrate Jan's birthday and Valentine's day. However, the birthday boy was up in the koppie when they arrived! Neighbours had noticed a thief: he appeared from nowhere on their farm and grabbed a handbag from a parked car and then ran away. The community was alerted by radio and a large number of men spent all Saturday afternoon scouting for this guy. He was seen from time to time again (from a distance), and at one stage it was believed that he could be on our koppie! Unfortunately, despite everyone's efforts, he got away. Fortunately, he did not come to our house to cause problems!
So instead of a nap and a peaceful visit, Saturday afternoon was spent in "Hide and seek" or more specifically another episode of "Cowboys and crooks"!

"Look I can climb on the army chest!"

"I eat my biscuit like a mealie!" Franco is very fussy about what goes into his mouth. Unlike other babies, new objects do not automatically go to his mouth. I gave him a chicken bone, but like the biltong a few weeks ago, he just stared at it!

Crawling: Franco is not yet the fastest crawler, but when I opened the fridge door, he was there in a flash!

Finally Martelize woke up and we could take photos of the two cousins. Here Gert has his hands full with the two babies and a jealous Faraoh (big black Labrador left) and Jakkie (golden Labrador right).

At last we were ready for our Valentine cum birthday feast, bur first the babies had to be put to sleep. Uncharacteristically, Martelize did not fall asleep right away and Thelwyn tried to rock her to sleep in the guest room, when she suddenly gave a little shriek....


Ten guesses why Thelwyn is staring into the room on her hands and knees...

and why are Jan and Hendrik turning the guestroom upside down? We had another case of hide and seek! This time it was a snake and like the thief earlier, this one too got away. Fortunately no-one had to sleep in that room last night!

After all this commotion, Martelize was wide awake! (Franco slept like a baby!)

Here are the three generations all in red for Valentine's day!

Martelize was intrigued with the rose Oupa had given Ouma, so she "inherited" it... It didn't last long in her little hands of course!

FINALLY we could sit down at our Valentine table. First Jan had to open his birthday gifts and guess what I chose for his Valentine's basket. What goodies did he think I would choose as his favourites? He guessed Imperial mints and chocolate. Of course he was right! I had included those among other favourites like raisin bread, rusks and honey.

Frans, Thelwyn and Martelize

Gert and Dorette.

And then we dished up the Valentine pie, sweet corn, carrot salad and green salad. The mixed vegetables were left out, because they had burnt: I just wanted to reheat them when the snake hunting started and a friend arrived and...I forgot the plate was on high! Gert and Dorette made us very special dessert: we had a choice between English toffee and Espresso volcanoes. Jummy!

How did we end this eventful day? Jan and I have a little secret and I will tell you about it sometime, but it involved pushing furniture out of the way and putting on a C.D. Very special! Jan you will always be my special Valentine! Thanks for a great day!